Taylor Swift’s Wedding Guests Don’t Know Ceremony Location — Yet
Rhode Island
R.I. coastal regulators order country club to take down the seawall it built without permission – The Boston Globe
The Quidnessett Country Club had asked the agency to change the classification of waters at the seawall from Type 1 “conservation areas” to Type 2 “low-intensity use,” saying it had built the wall to protect the 14th hole of its golf course from erosion. But in January, the council voted 6 to 0 to reject a petition to reclassify those waters.
And on Tuesday evening, the council voted 6 to 0 to require the removal of the 600-foot-long wall — technically called a riprap revetment — within 120 days. The council called for the country club to submit an “acceptable restoration plan” within 30 days, and to then complete the restoration within 90 days.
Janice Mathews, vice president of The Jan Companies, which owns the Quidnessett Country Club, said the club will attempt to agree on a restoration plan with the CRMC staff that would not require cutting into the golf course. “We are still trying to work it out,” she said.
Topher Hamblett, executive director of Save the Bay, said, “We support the staff’s recommendation and the council’s decision to remove the unauthorized wall, restore the function of the coastal feature, and undo the harm caused.”
But, he said, “By entertaining the water-type change petition in the first place, the politically appointed council has aided Quidnessett Country Club’s efforts to circumvent the law.”
Also, Jed Thorp, Save the Bay’s director of advocacy, said the environmental group is concerned that removal of the wall could be furthered delayed.
During Tuesday’s meeting, the club’s attorney, former council chairwoman Jennifer Cervenka, asked the council to assign the enforcement action to a hearing officer, saying such a step is required in contested cases.
But Coastal Resources Management Council executive director Jeffrey Willis said the club has never disputed the charges that it built the seawall without authorization, removed vegetation at the site, or filled tidal waters.
“We don’t believe this is a contested matter at all,” Willis said. “We actually think it’s a pretty straight-forward matter.”
Cervenka disagreed, saying the vegetation was destroyed by storms, not by the club. Also, she said the club disputes the place at which the agency wants the restoration to take place. She said the proposed line — the “toe of the berm” — would force the club to cut into the golf course, which she said predates the rules the agency is trying to enforce.
“That is material and affects our property rights,” Cervenka said. “The council does not now have jurisdiction to consider this contested enforcement proceeding.”
The council’s attorney, Anthony DeSisto, disagreed. “The issue is the wall itself,” he said, “and there is no contest that wall was constructed without permission.”
The council voted against sending the matter to a hearing officer, suggesting the club would finalize restorations plans with CRMC staff.
But Cervenka said she doubts the dispute over where the restoration line begins can be resolved with staff, and she maintained that a hearing officer should weigh in. “It’s very procedurally unusual, and I don’t think it is appropriate,” she said.
That prompted the council’s newest member, Dr. Michael A. Reuter, to tell Cervenka, “All due respect, building what you did is also procedurally inappropriate, so let’s not split hairs over it,” he said.
Save the Bay said it’s concerned that if a court later determines that a hearing officer was required, that “will not only cause another delay that perpetuates the loss of public access along the shoreline and harm to the coastal ecosystem, it will prove to be yet another example of the council not following its own rules.”
“Enforcing Rhode Island’s coastal laws should not be complicated, and certainly not for such a blatant and admitted violation as Quidnessett Country Club’s illegal wall,” Save the Bay said in a statement. “Removing the agency’s redundant layer of the politically appointed council will streamline coastal enforcement cases like these and move our state forward in efficiently and effectively managing and protecting our coastal resources.”
The General Assembly is entering the final days of the 2025 legislative session. During a budget briefing, House Speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi, a Warwick Democrat, said no money has been budgeted for changing the current structure of the Coastal Resources Management Council. He said legislation calling to overhaul the council remains alive, but neither the House nor the Senate has voted that legislation out of committee.
Edward Fitzpatrick can be reached at edward.fitzpatrick@globe.com. Follow him @FitzProv.
SEE IT: A great white shark feeds on a dead whale off the coast of Rhode Island, as the large creature comes across a whale carcass floating in the ocean.
RHODE ISLAND – It’s not often you can get so close to such a dangerous beast like a great white shark, but that is exactly what one boater was able to do in Rhode Island.
A large 15-foot great white shark was spotted feasting on a dead whale in the ocean off the coast of Rhode Island.
STAY SHARK SMART: WHAT TO KNOW WHEN YOU HEAD INTO THE WATER
Despite a reputation for inhabiting waters in Australia and South Africa, great white sharks can be found in temperate waters around the world, as their habitat preferences can change as they age, according to National Geographic.
Mexico, Great White Shark (Carcharodon Carcharias); Guadalupe Island.
(Dave Fleetham/Design Pics Editorial/Universal Images Group / Getty Images)
Video footage shared by Ian Shilosky shows many birds hovering around the whale carcass, trying to get a nibble without getting too close to the 15-foot beast.
SEE IT: SPERM WHALE CAUGHT ON CAMERA IN RARE ENCOUNTER OFF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA COAST
The shark shows off its brutal strength, ripping large chunks from the whale with its 2 to 3-inch razor-sharp teeth, before diving underwater to consume its meal.
“White shark sightings are few and far between until a whale dies and then they seem to appear out of nowhere as this one did,” the Atlantic Shark Institute said on social media.
Great white shark (Carcharodon carcharias), attacking tuna bait. Neptune islands, South Australia. (Photo by Auscape/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
(Auscape/Universal Images Group / Getty Images)
The great white shark grows slowly, with males maturing at around 26 years and females at around 33, according to NOAA.
These creatures range in age from 30 to over 70 years old, and they can weigh up to 4,500 pounds.
DEEP-SEA DISCOVERY UNCOVERS ONE OF THE LARGEST KNOWN WHALE GRAVEYARDS ON THE FLOOR OF THE INDIAN OCEAN
Great White Shark breaching at Seal Island, False Bay, South Africa
( Chris Brunskill Ltd/Corbis / Getty Images)
Adult great whites usually swim along shorelines where there is a known food source, such as seals or sea lions.
12-YEAR-OLD AMERICAN BOY ATTACKED BY SHARK WHILE VACATIONING IN THE BAHAMAS
As the largest predatory fish in the world, great white sharks tend to eat a variety of fish, rays, squid, seabirds, sea turtles, dolphins and more.
WARWICK, R.I. (WJAR) — Rhode Island’s Lego Fan Convention Returned to the West Warwick Civic Center.
Professional Lego artists from around the country displayed their creations and connect with fans.
There are meet and greet opportunities with Lego celebrities too.
JOIN THE CONVERSATION (2)
Fans can also show off their own skills in the event’s Brick Pits.
Rhode Island
Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s 1st Choice for Wedding Was Rhode Island: Why They Pivoted to NYC
Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce initially had their sights set on a marvelous coastal wedding, multiple sources exclusively tell Us Weekly.
“Taylor and Travis really wanted their wedding in Rhode Island, and June 13 was the date, but security wouldn’t have worked because it could get out of hand with that kind of scale of an event,” an insider says.
Though everything was initially being planned in Rhode Island — where Swift, 36, has a mansion in the lavish Watch Hill neighborhood of Westerly — the insider notes the pop star had booked multiple venues from coast to coast on different dates.
According to the source, “Ocean House [in Westerly] was planned at one point, and then plans changed to New York.”
The insider, meanwhile, tells Us that Swift’s security “had to assess all the venues to see what made sense.”
“Rhode Island wasn’t great because the nature of the access and the perimeters were too difficult to secure,” the source explains. “So the main issue with Rhode Island ended up being security.”
Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce Getty Images
“Everything was being planned in Rhode Island,” added a source. “And so many people wanted to come that plans had to change because it became bigger.”
Swift and Kelce, 36, are now rumored to be tying the knot at Madison Square Garden in New York City over the July 4 holiday weekend. While the exact location and date of the nuptials have not yet been confirmed, NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani appeared to hint at the wedding taking place in the city during a June 15 press conference earlier this month.
“I am fully confident in the work of the NYPD, as well as our state partners, in delivering that safe experience,” he told reporters. “We are the biggest city in the country. We are used to big events, and we are incredibly excited for the [World Cup]. We know it coincides with the Knicks’ [NBA] Finals run. We know it coincides with July 4, America 250, Taylor Swift’s wedding — all happening at the same time — and we are so excited to welcome the world here.”
Additionally, a permit was filed with NYC in June, the mayor’s spokesperson Dora Pekec confirmed to Us after The New York Times reported on a permit to close the streets surrounding MSG from July 2 to midday July 4 for an event on July 3.
City sources also confirmed to Us that the Street Activity Permit Office (SAPO), which issues the permits, is in touch with the NYPD regarding a possible influx of street and pedestrian traffic.
Though Swift and Kelce’s Rhode Island wedding plans fell through, the “I Knew It, I Knew You” singer’s Watch Hill mansion had an uptick in action last week when security was spotted swarming the area. A group of unidentified women were reportedly seen on the balcony wearing matching robes — three in black and one in white — sparking speculation about a bachelorette party.
A woman who appeared to be Swift’s childhood friend Abigail Anderson Berard was also seen on the property with her 2-year-old son.
Meanwhile, Travis celebrated what was perceived as his bachelor party in Los Angeles and San Diego. The Kansas City Chiefs tight end and his brother, Jason Kelce, as well as Travis’ teammate Patrick Mahomes and others, were spotted at a Chris Lake concert, a Dave Chappelle comedy show, a night out at the members-only Bird Street Club and more.
Swift and Kelce began dating in the summer of 2023 and got engaged in August 2025.
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